Knowra Dai Zhen Dai Zhen Dai Zhen (1724–1777) was a Qing-dynasty Chinese philosopher and philologist who joined rigorous textual research to a moral philosophy centered on human desires and feeling.
Evidential learning : A Qing intellectual movement that used philology, textual criticism, and empirical inquiry to establish claims about antiquity. Dai’s historical arguments exemplify its demand that interpretations rest on verifiable textual evidence.
Textual criticism : The examination of textual evidence to identify errors, variants, and the history of a written work. Dai used textual scrutiny to test inherited readings of the classics.
Qian Daxin : A Qing scholar known for historical research, classical studies, and evidential scholarship. Qian represents the scholarly world of rigorous historical inquiry in which Dai worked.
Qing dynasty : China’s last imperial dynasty, ruled by the Manchus from 1644 to 1912. Dai’s scholarship reflects the intellectual institutions and textual culture of Qing China.
Cheng-Zhu school : The influential Neo-Confucian tradition associated with Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao, and Zhu Xi, emphasizing principle and disciplined cultivation. Dai disputed its tendency to separate moral principle from human feeling and desire.
Classical Chinese philology : The study of classical Chinese texts through language, textual transmission, and historical context. Dai’s philosophical readings depend on recovering the meanings of ancient words and passages.
Exegesis : The interpretation of a text through close attention to its language, context, and structure. His ethical claims emerge through close interpretation of classical passages.
Ji Yun : A Qing scholar and official who directed the compilation of the Four Treasuries. Ji and Dai were connected through the imperial book project that institutionalized classical scholarship.
Qianlong Emperor : The Qing emperor who ruled from 1735 to 1796 and sponsored major state projects in scholarship and culture. His reign shaped the courtly and political environment in which Dai’s research gained institutional roles.
Li (Neo-Confucianism) : The principle or pattern that Neo-Confucian thinkers regarded as ordering things and grounding morality. Dai challenged interpretations that made li an abstract standard standing apart from embodied human life.
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